Chain Of Memories: Riku's veiw
by crystal-demon
Summary: What happened to Riku when he found Castle Oblivion
1. Awakening

**Awakening**

It was dark, cold and empty except for the figure laying sprawled out on his front. Soon enough he slowly raised his head and looked around his environment. He sat up on his knees and placed his hand to his forehead, he had a major headache and no idea on how he got it.

"Ungh…where…where am I?" He said as he continued to look around, he tried to remember how he got here but he couldn't, he had lost a part of his memories, He tried to remember but that just caused his head to hurt even more. He was bought out of his train of thought by a mysterious voice.

"Sleep" The boy whisked around to see who had spoke to him but there was no one there, confused he spoke out.

"Who's there?" He asked, still looking around trying to find who had spoken to him.

"Sleep. Here between light and dark." Again the voice spoke to him and again there was no one there. The boy thought to himself for a moment.

"Between….what?" Confused, the boy closed his eyes and tried to think of how he had ended up in alone, in a dark place and being spoken to by a creepy voice. Then something inside of him clicked. "The king! Where's the king?! Together we closed the door to darkness and after that…" Again his hands rushed to the top of his head as he tried to continue. "Grrr…why can't I remember?"

"Your king is far away. Sleep and leave the war with darkness in his hands. The thorny light of awakening will bring only anguish to one on your state. Turn from the light. Shut your eyes." The voice sounded like he was insulting the boy, which he didn't take to kindly.

"You talk like I'm some kind of demon of the dark." The boy was on his knees, shouting at the voice of someone he could not see, he felt like an idiot but he didn't take to kindly to being treated like a demon, not after…, again his thoughts were interrupted by the voice.

"Can you face the truth? Here blanketed by the darkness, sleep is safety. Sleep is eternal."

The boy closed his eyes; this voice was making no sense and really was beginning to bug him. Suddenly out of nowhere a bright light began to illuminate to dark that surrounded him, the boy outstretched his hand and grabbed hold of the light, when he touched it, it took form in his hand. The boy looked at the object he held in his hand.

"Is this…a card?" He said in disbelief.

"It is a door to the truth. Take it, and your sleep ends. Take it, and take the first step towards the truth. But know this: The truth will bring you pain. Will you still go on? There can be no returning to the sweet security of sleep." The voice asked him this.

The boy stood there and looked at the card; memories of his home, his family and his friends came flooding back to him, but not all of these memories where good ones and he tried hard not to think of the ones that bought tears to his eyes and pain to his heart. He then looked up with a look of determination on his face.

"Yeah, well…seems like a boring place to take a nap anyway."

"Well said, Riku." At that moment that darkness around Riku faded, Riku closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was in a bright hall; it looked rather new but had an uneasy feel about it. In front of Riku stood a door, Riku walked up to the door and held out the card, he had no idea why he did it; it just seemed like the right thing to do. Riku stared at the card in his hand as it began to glow and float towards the door, the door suddenly swung open. Riku peered into the darkness, trying to make something out but couldn't. He looked down at his had and he noticed that the card had vanished. He looked at the door and smiled.

"A door to the truth, huh?" And with that he entered the door and entered a new

adventure.

-----

Hey guys, I am going to bring you a novelisation of kingdom hearts: chain of memories but from Riku's view. I hope you enjoy reading this and please tell me what you think. Thanks guys. Crystal-demon. Xx


	2. Hollow memories

**Hollow Memories.**

Riku stumbled out of the door, it wasn't the most fun way to travel but he was not going to complain. He straightened himself out and looked at were the door had taken him to. It looked so familiar, but not in a good way, this was the one place that he never wanted to go back to, not if he could help it. After a moment it clicked were he was.

"This is Maleficents castle! How'd I end up here? Someone must have bought me here while I was sleeping. But who?" Riku turned around to leave but noticed that the door was gone, he was stuck here.

"What you see is not real. It's the world of your memory." The mysterious voice said, Riku put his hands on his hips and sighed, he was wondering when this voice would speak again.

"My memory?" This was something that he didn't understand, weren't memories supposed to be in your head.

"The things you remember of Maleficents castle from your time there. Those memories became a card and that card made this world. The things you see- you've seen them before, haven't you?" The voice said. Riku looked down at his hands, only moments ago he held that card and it wasn't even that big, so how did Maleficents castle fit inside of it, there was no way that was possible, he played with this question for a moment before he spoke up again.

"Yeah…so what now? Am I supposed to learn something while I'm here? Maybe run into someone I know?" As soon as he said that last sentence Riku paused, there was only two people in the entire world that he wanted to see but he didn't know if they wanted to see him.

"Ordinarily…yes. You would meet the people in your memories." The voice said.

"Ordinarily?" Riku asked him back, but all he got was silence, a deadly silence that he knew all to well.

"Hey! I'm asking you a question!" Again, he was treated to silence. Riku clenched his fists together and stared at the ceiling. "Fine, but it had better be you I run across next, voice. I'm sick of talking to thin air." the voice had left him a present though, Riku looked up to see a card come floating down towards him, Riku grabbed it in his had, It was a gold card with a picture of a key on it, he looked at it for a moment before he began to run down the corridor. He had spent a lot of time in the castle so he knew his way around pretty well, although he wished that he could just forget about this castle and everything in it.

He turned to corner to see himself come face to face with a small group of heartless, Riku backed up against the wall, he had no way of defending himself as he had no weapon. One of the heartless bounded straight towards him. Riku closed his eyes and threw his hands up in front of his face and waited for the heartless to hit him, but it never did, slowly Riku opened his eyes and saw the heartless sprawled across the floor, I his hands he held a weapon. Riku looked at the weapon; it was the same one he had used when he was fighting for Maleficent, a blade called Soul Eater. Riku lowered the weapon so it was level with the heartless, the heartless before him flinched but didn't back away and one by one they charged at Riku. Riku bought his blade up and swung down upon the heartless, dodging attacks when needed and striking when he found the time right. It only took him a few minutes to destroy the heartless, Riku sighed and lowered the blade, and the blade then shone a black light and vanished. Riku looked at his hands and smiled. For some strange reason he knew that the blade would appear whenever he needed it.

Riku then continued his run around the castle, trying to find anyone who could help him. Along the way he destroyed random heartless that stood in his way and just as he had thought, when he wished it his blade would appear. Riku stopped in front of a door to take a rest. He looked at the door and noticed that it had a picture of a key on it, just like the card that the voice had left him. Riku took the card out of his pocket and held it up to the door; at once he card began to glow and floated over to the door. The door opened and Riku took a step inside.

He found himself in a room that looked all to familiar to him, Riku sighed and lowered his head.

"It's like he said-everything's just how I remember it. Even this room…"

"It must be nice being back in you old bedroom. Think of all the memories…" Riku's head shot up from the floor as he glared forward.

"You again. Sorry, but these memories I could do without. Maleficent gave me this room." Riku's voice was filled with hatred and bitterness.

"So she did. And you lived here, tempted of the darkness she offered. You cast away your home, your friends, everything…but at least they gave you a nice room." Riku had heard enough of this voice's taunts and lost his temper.

"Shut up!" Riku turned to leave the room when he noticed a card on the desk, he walked over to it and picked it up, and it looked just like the other one except it had a picture of a heart on it. Riku then left the room behind him and he also tried to leave the memories.

He ran back out into the corridor and tried to find a way out of this nightmare, he was beginning to get annoyed with the voice telling him what he had done wrong and of all the things that he threw away, he knew that already and he didn't like being reminded. Riku was to deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice a giant dog like heartless wearing armour in front of him and Riku ran straight into it. Riku hit the floor with a thud, brushing his silver hair out of his eyes he got to his feet and stared right at the heartless.

He used to be able to control the heartless, so he knew how to destroy it. Riku closed his eyes and soon enough his blade came to his hands, he had no idea were it came form but at this moment in time he really didn't care. Riku the launched himself at the heartless and tried to land behind it, he got to it and landed a shot straight onto its back, the heartless growled in pain before it vanished. Riku's blade disappeared and he noticed that the heartless had been blocking the door he needed to find. Again he used the card and again the door opened.

"No one here, either…There's nothing but heartless in this castle." He then shouted out. "Voice! I Know you're watching-so explain this. Where are the people from me memories? Tell me!"

"Are you sure you want to see them?"

"Of course I do!" Riku yelled back

"But you cast them aside. To reach the outside world, you passed through the door to darkness. Behind you, you left family, friends, home-everything-all in pursuit of darkness." The voice taunted.

"But I cast that aside, too!" He protested.

"Then what do you have to show for it? First your home, then the dark. Your heart only knows how to throw things away. It's empty, like that room. Like your memories. That's why no one is in the castle with you. Your heart is hollow except for the darkness you couldn't quite shake off." The voice then began to laugh at him.

"You're full of it! I rejected the darkness!" Riku then noticed a door right in front of him had just appeared, Riku walked towards it and pushed it open, as he entered the door, the voice had one last thing to say to him.

"Ha, ha ha…did you really now?"

-----


	3. Dark and Light

**Dark and Light**

Again, Riku stumbled out of the door and landed flat on his face, cursing to himself he slowly got to his feet and looked around the room, it was damp and creepy, owing to the fact that there was hardly any sunlight. Riku looked at the walls; there were no window, that's why it was so dark. He turned around to leave through the door but it had vanished, it looked like he was tuck here. Trying to think of a way out he was interrupted by a voice he knew all to well.

"I knew you'd return, Riku." Riku turned around so quickly that he almost lost he balance. Standing in front of him was Maleficent, the one person in this world he never thought he would run into.

"Maleficent?! You're alive?!" He said taking a few steps backwards and looking at the figure in horror.

"You haven't been paying attention. I am but a figment of your memory." She said in a sickly voice that sent a shiver down Riku's spine.

"Of all the people I could run into, it had to be you…" He said, finally regaining his confidence and staring at the witch.

"Who else? Your heart is steeped in darkness. You can only see people who exist in that same darkness-people like me." She said with what looked like a satisfied look on her face, Riku's face fell.

"No…" He looked down at the floor, wishing that he was not here but back home with his friends, not in a dark and creepy castle standing before the witch who had given him all the darkness he once desired.

"Be grateful you have someone to keep you company. Your heart is empty. Were it not for the darkness in your heart…you would be completely alone."

"That's sounding pretty good right about now." Riku's eyes were still glued to the floor; he couldn't bare to look at her, not even for a second.

"Come, now. You once clung to me to sate your hunger for darkness. You want me here. Who else but I can give you the darkness you long for." Riku flinched at this last sentence, she was right, he did cling to her for the darkness and he did sacrifice everything for her, how he regretted that now.

"There was a time I did want you around. I surrendered my heart to the dark. But never again. You and your darkness have nothing to offer. All I did was lose myself…empty myself! I'm finished with all that. If I'm stuck seeing people like you, people of the dark…" At this moment Riku's head shot up from the floor and he stared at her with such determination, he shot his hand out into mid-air and at once his blade appeared in his hand, he then turned to Maleficent.

"I'll take you out one by one!" Maleficent smirked at the sight of the boy holding his weapon to her; she was not frightened by him.

"Then don't forget to take yourself out last. Because you, like me, are one of the dark."

"That's fine with me. I turned to the darkness because my heart was weak. I hate that weakness. It's like I'm my only enemy. And seeing people like you embrace the darkness just makes it worse! Enough talk, Maleficent." Riku drew his blade up to eye level and stood in his fighting stance. He felt so comfortable when he stood like this and knowing that he might take down Maleficent filled him with hope and determination…that must be how Sora feels.

"So you hate the darkness enough to fight it…oh, the agony you must feel! Let me end your pain, Riku-end it forever with the wondrous power of darkness!" And with that Maleficent raised her staff high into the air. Her body began to glow and was engulfed in green flames; Riku shielded his eyes from the light, when he lowered his arms hi found himself face to face with a dragon.

He had completely forgotten that she had the power the transform into a dragon, but at this exact moment in time, he realised that thinking about it would probably end up getting him killed. He looked up at the dragons head, he knew that was her weak spot but he had to figure out how to reach it. The dragon lunged forward and Riku only just managed to get out of the way. He hit the floor hard; he didn't have time to recover as the dragon went for him again. He rolled out of the way this time; he got to his feet and took this as his chance to hit her on the head. He ran forward and struck her hard with his blade, the dragon shook its head in pain and Riku took this as a cue to run, he wasn't fast enough as the dragon caught him. Riku hit the wall with a thud, winded he got to his feet. How was he supposed to hit it if he couldn't get close without taking a one way ride to the wall?

The dragons head shot down and the room was surrounded in green flames, Riku knew they were real as he had seen people who had failed Maleficent in the past burned to a pile of ash, Riku gulped as he thought about that. Again, the dragon went for him, Riku ducked at the dragon hit the wall. Riku ran to the other side of the room, in other words as far away as he could. Riku stared at his blade, he needed help, and he couldn't do this by himself. Then it clicked, he was alone, the voice was right, he had no one. Riku's focus then shifted to his hands as a single tear fell onto his open palm. His hand began to glow; the light was bright but at the same time was friendly. Riku looked at the card that had no appeared in his hand, it had the king's face on it! Riku closed his eyes and prayed that something-someone would help him.

The room then began to shake and a large amount of stone fell from the ceiling, Riku looked up, was it a sign? Whatever it was he wasn't complaining. The fallen rocks had not only pushed the dragon back but had created a small raised area, meaning he could now strike Maleficents-the dragons head. Wiping his eyes, Riku headed straight for the raised area, avoiding flames as he went. The dragon realised that she was in trouble and tried to stop him by any means necessary. Riku reached the raised area and stared at the dragon. He was level with it, for once.

Riku raised his blade above his head and struck the dragon hard; he hit it again and again. All his hatred for Maleficent came flooding out, all the feelings that he had kept hidden for so long were released through his blade. When Riku finally stopped, the dragon swayed before it fell to the floor with an almighty crash. Riku jumped down from the platform and walked over to the dragon, he poked it with his blade just to be sure. It was dead, Maleficent was gone. Riku sighed, sure he destroyed this maleficent but whats to say another one won't appear.

Riku looked over his shoulder, another door had appeared but it wasn't locked, it was open. Riku walked over to the door, his blade vanished in a beam of light and he put his hands out to touch the door, it was real. Riku closed his eyes and stepped through the door. This was not his favourite way to travel.

-----

Hiya. Okay this is the newest chapter.

So tell me what you think.

Crystal-demon


	4. A heart of darkness

**A Heart of Darkness**

Riku fell out of the door with a thud; he stayed on the floor, his chest hurt from where he had hit the wall during his fight with Maleficent. His hands clutched his stomach as he breathed in and out. The fight had taken a lot out of him, he hadn't needed to fight for a long time, and so that was a bit of a strain on his body. He took his hands of his stomach and looked at them, a moment ago, when he needed help, a card with the Kings face on it appeared, was he helping him from afar? Riku sighed and brushed his silver hair from his eyes, it had always been long but now it was a stupid length and would take a lot of care to handle.

Riku shifted his weight and sat on his knees, at once his hands returned to his side as he winced in pain. He hadn't broken anything, he hoped. He took a moment to look at his surroundings, he was in a nicely decorated hallway, it looked a lot like the one he had been in before, it was a pale blue and the lights were very bright. Riku lay on his back, closed his eyes and was considering taking a nap when he was interrupted.

"Why do you shun the dark?" The voice had returned just as Riku wanted to take a break, this voice was so predictable, interrupting him at times he didn't need him and not being there when he did.

"Oh, come on. I know you heard every word I said to Maleficent." Riku said in lazy tone, he was too tired and sore to have to argue with the voice.

"Darkness is you weapon. I need you to accept it." Again, the voice made him sound like he was some demon of the dark; Riku opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

"What do you care?" He said, taking no notice of the fact he was talking to the ceiling and probably looked like he was going crazy.

"Stop resisting and accept the darkness. You must…" The voice stopped, this got Riku's attention, and slowly he sat up. What happened next freaked Riku out more then finding Maleficent, the voice came back and continued his sentence, except it wasn't the same voice as before.

"If you are to serve me again!" This voice was so familiar, Riku jumped to his feet but again, his hands reached for his stomach.

"Ansem…just as I thought." Riku snarled through gritted teeth, in front of Riku's eyes, Ansem faded in to view, Riku took a step forward.

"You don't look surprised."

"You always were chatty when it came to darkness. So let me guess…you want to pull me back into the darkness and play puppet master again…right?" Riku said as he stared at Ansem, but to his surprise, Ansem just stood there and smiled.

"Clever boy. You'll make a fine host. Now, surrender to me again and-" Ansem was cut off by Riku, who had his blade in his hands and looked like he wanted to rip Ansem to pieces.

"You're insane! There won't be an 'again'!" And with that Riku charged straight at Ansem, Ansem stood there, he didn't move nor did he flinch. Riku got close to him and bought his blade down with force. It contacted with Ansem but nothing happened. Ansem looked down at the blade then up at Riku with a look of amusement on his face. Riku was then sent flying across the lobby. He landed on his back, Riku laid there in more pain then he had been in for a long time and all of that pain came form one push down the lobby, he tries to scan for his weapon, and it had landed a few feet away. Riku tried to reach for it but he just couldn't reach it.

"Unnh…" Riku moaned as he clutched his stomach with one hand and placed on hand on this head. Ansem walked towards him, laughing.

"Did you really think you could harm me? A weakling like you couldn't even defeat Sora-and you had darkness on your side" Ansem taunted Riku, who had finally managed to sit up.

"Excuse me…fore being...weak…" Riku said, as he tried to speak through the pain he was in.

"You need the darkness. Submit! Bow to the darkness, and bow to me."

"Not a…chance" Riku got to his feet, this took a lot of effort, he had no idea why he still was in so much pain, it should have gotten easier but it hadn't, if anything it seemed as if he hurt more. Ansem, seeing his pain continued his assault with words.

"Only the darkness can help you now." Ansem walked closer to Riku, Riku took a step backwards. Ansem was to powerful and he had to chance against him. He was truly alone. Riku closed his eyes and hung his head, this was it for him, and he'll never see Sora again and tell him he was…sorry.

"You're wrong!" A voice said from no where. Riku snapped out of his thoughts, he recognised this voice and for once he was glad to hear one from his past, but he had to be sure.

"That voice…! Your Majesty, is that you?!" Riku called out, a small light appeared in front of him and circled around, and the King's voice seemed to be coming from the floating orb.

"You betcha! Riku, you're not alone. Listen careful now, Riku. The light will never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness! But you have to believe!" The King's voice was full of reassurance and this filled Riku with the confidence he needed.

"I will! Hear that? I'm not losing to the darkness today, Ansem." Riku shot his hand out and his weapon came skimming across the lobby floor and into his hand. Again, Ansem smirked at the boy.

"You think some feeble light can save you from the darkness I command? Fool!" The area around Ansem got dark, Riku took a step backwards. The air was getting all dense and the atmosphere, although it was low to begin with, had dropped. Behind Ansem a large shadow was climbing up. He took its place behind Ansem's back. This was Ansem's darkness; it made Riku sick to think about it, he was just glad that his darkness was not on display.

Soon after the dark had appeared, it had vanished once more. They were still in the lobby and Riku knew that he would have to fight Ansem, he had just had to battle Maleficent and he was still bruised from that, he took and trip across the lobby floor a moment ago and now he had to battle someone who could control the dark at will. Today really sucked.

The darkness that Ansem had summoned, if that's what you'd call it, acted like a weapon and took a swing at Riku, who stuck his blade out to block it. They collided but Ansem was stronger the Riku and he couldn't hold Ansem's strength for much longer. Riku's knees began to buckle and he began to sweat, Ansem on the other hand showed no signs that he was tiring. This just annoyed Riku more, this made him feel weak.

Ansem pushed down hard causing Riku to sink to one knee, Riku was tired, angry and very sore. Ansem sent of a dark pulse which sent Riku down to both knees. The pulse kept Riku on his knees and it felt like the pulse went straight through his body, giving him Goosebumps. Riku was about to give up when the king's words echoed in his ear…

…'The light will never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness! But you have to believe!'…

He had to believe, he just had to, if he could have any chance of defeating Ansem, now would be the best time. He had to trust that the King would come trough for him. Riku closed his eyes and lowered his blade and let it rest on the floor, Ansem took this chance and struck Riku hard…

But nothing happened. Ansem was stuck, a bright light had appeared and was acting like a shield, and it blocked Ansem's attack. With a tremendous push sent Ansem back, Riku stood up, grabbed his blade and launched himself at Ansem. Riku's blade connected with Ansem's stomach and Ansem's power had connected with Riku's side. Both fighters fell to the floor, but Ansem was the one who stood up first. Riku looked at the floor, he couldn't give up now, not after the light saved him. Riku staggered to his feet and swayed uneasily on the spot.

"Is that all you got?" Riku tried to sound like he had the energy but he knew he didn't, and so did Ansem.

"It seems you are intent on resisting the darkness. Very well. See with your own eyes." Ansem reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pile of cards. They looked a lot like the one that sent him to Maleficents castle.

"What are those?" Riku asked, still clinging to his weapon and not taking his eye off of Ansem.

"They are cards crafted from your memory. Advance through the worlds they beget, and you will come to understand. Chasing the light will not distance you from the dark. You cannot run." Ansem made the last part sound like a threat, Riku looked at him still, intent that if Ansem tried to attack him again he would be ready.

""Who's running? Give me the cards. I'll enter those worlds. And in the end, if I haven't given up…I win." Ansem threw the cards to Riku, who caught them, badly.

"I have one more gift for you." Ansem smirked at Riku, who was surrounded by a weird light; Riku looked at Ansem in horror.

"What did you do?!"

"I tempered the darkness that remains in your heart." Ansem said in a offhand voice, as if he did that kind of thing everyday.

"What, you still think that I'd rely on the darkness?" Riku asked him, feeling a little insulted.

"Whether or not you use it is your choice…I'll be waiting, Riku…for you to come to your senses and yield to the darkness." Ansem clicked his fingers and vanished. Riku blinked. He then looked at the cards. Riku sat on the floor and let out a sigh of relief.

Little did he know that there were 3 people who also wanted to use him for there work, and that he would meet then very soon.

-----


	5. Friends and foes

**Friends and Foes**

A hooded figure stood alone facing a dark wall. He was alone and staring in to space, obviously lost in thought. In the centre of the room was a crystal ball but it was cloudy. The hooded figure was interrupted by the arrival of someone he knew. This other person suddenly appeared in the room and he to was wearing the same kind of hood. He had short, spiky red hair and an unhappy look on his face. The hooded figure lowered his hood and turned around. His hair was a dark grey and was long on the left side of his face, in completely covered his eye. This boy wore a look of amusement on his face.

"Don't I even get a hello, Lexaeus?" The grey haired boy said, the red head was spared an answer by the appearance of a very irritable person with long blonde hair. He went and stood by the red head. He also wore a hood. The three people ion the room were obviously part of the same group. The blonde haired one spoke up.

"What's going on, Zexion? I demand an explanation." He spoke in a very irritable voice. The grey haired boy seemed to take this rudeness as an insult.

"Nice to see you too, Vexen. You know, it's deplorable…the organization used to be the rope that binds us. And now it's full of kinks." He smirked, the blonde on, Vexen, took a step forwards.

"How dare you!" The red head put a hand on Vexen's shoulder.

"Let it go, Vexen. Zexion, tell us, what did you detect?" He asked the boy. Zexion, as the others had called him closed his eyes and returned to his train of thought he was on earlier.

"Visitors. I picked up two scents in the castles lowest basement. One of them was Maleficent, but-"He was cut of by Vexen, who laughed at this.

"Absurd. The witch is gone, she cannot return from the realm of darkness of her own volition." Zexion sighed and flicked a piece of hair out of his eyes, he must do that a lot as it must be hard to see.

"If you'd let me finish…" He was angry at the fact that he had been cut off but was acting rather cool about it, the way he did that gave Vexen and Lexaeus the creeps. Zexion continued. "The scent belonged to a very convincing double. But I can't say much more beyond that, since the would be Maleficent is no more, our other visitor saw to that."

"Who is it?" Lexaeus had finally spoken up, he normally just let them argue for a moment but he was interested in this.

"I don't know…but the scent was very similar to the superiors. Exactly similar, if I may say."

"Rubbish!" Vexen spoke in a very angry tone, Zexion smirked at him.

"Fact Vexen. Now what shall we do?" Zexion asked. Vexen thought about it for a moment before he spoke up again.

"Let us bide our time and see what develops." And with that, the three men wearing cloaks looked into the crystal ball. The ball was now clear and the three of them watched a young boy look around the lobby.

This boy was Riku.

Riku was lost. He had been walking the same corridor for hours. His hands were still on his stomach as that was what hurt the most, his wrist also hurt from fending of Ansem's attack. Riku stopped as something caught his attention.

"Something…smells kind of funny…what is it? It's so familiar." Riku sniffed the air for a moment longer before he figured out what the smell was. "Darkness, the scent of darkness. Whats happened to me…the darkness even seeps into my senses." Riku sighed and looked at the floor until a figure appeared in front of him.

"Don't worry, Riku." The king was standing in front of him, but something was not right.

"Your Majesty! What happened to you? You're all…fuzzy." He was right; the King seemed to be flickering in the light.

"I can only send a little bit of my power here. But I have a request." Riku was taken a back.

"A request? From your Majesty?"

"Riku, don't let go of yourself just because darkness has a hold on you. Fight the darkness inside you! It won't be easy…but don't forget. Even in the darkest dark, there's always a little light." The king's voice was filled with reassurance, the kind that Riku needed. But something the King had said confused him.

"Light…within darkness?"

"You and I have seen it! The far-off, welcoming light inside the door to darkness…the light of kingdom hearts, Riku-It'll show you the way. Please don't give up. Believe in the light. That's all I ask."

"Okay…I'll try my best." Riku smiled, it was the first time he had smiled in a long time.

"And I'll try to find a way to reach you. I promise." The King extended his hand and Riku went to shake it, but his hand just passed through him.

"You're an illusion?! My hand passes right through you." Riku stared at his hand, the King just smiled at him.

"But we shook hands, in our hearts we're connected, you and me."

"Yeah…I guess so."

Riku smiled at the King, for the first time since he had stepped foot inside this castle, he felt like he had a friend, he didn't feel alone.

-----


End file.
